Bottle Sediment Turned Brown

[Aristotelian]

I cracked the last of a batch bottled back in October. All of the bottles to this point have been fine but it has been a couple months since I drank one. This one poured a massive head, and the bottle sediment was an unusual dark brown. The beer had a slight sour taste and generally seemed off. Would this be oxidation? Autolysis? Just curious. This was one of my first batches and I was not being careful about oxygen, but I have never had a real problem with it until now.

Recipe was an ESB with Nottingham yeast.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I think massive head and sour taste are clues that this was contaminated. Likely a good thing that you used when you did before it burst.

 

[Tactical-Brewer]

A few batches back, I brewed a New Castle Brown Ale Clone and had a few bottles that just tasted gross. Off from the deliciousness of the others.

Of course I rinse all my bottles after each use, but when I looked up at them into a light after rinsing, I noticed a couple dark spots... Yup, didn't clean my bottles well enough and they funked.

Lesson learned.

 

[KangerBrew6]

Tonight I cracked an Irish stout that gushed all over the shop. Next stubbie was fine and well behaved. Sometimes I mightn't of cleaned the very odd bottle as well as I should of I quess. Beer in first wasn't sour, just gushy. Blame it on the beer gods.

 

[bucketnative]

Same thing here with a recent Kolsch. Traced it back to a six pack of bottles that I got from a friend. He had let them sit empty for a few weeks without cleaning, and I only put them through my normal rinse-out process for bottles that are freshly emptied (right after drinking). It was an infection from whatever was growing in them prior to washing.